What are celestial bodies An astronomical body or

What are celestial bodies? ? ? An astronomical body or celestial body refers to a single, tightly bound entity, . Our solar system is filled with a wide range of celestial bodies - the Sun itself, our eight planets, dwarf planets, and asteroids - and on Earth, life itself! The inner solar system is occasionally visited by comets that loop in from the outer reaches of the solar system. � In simpler words a celestial body is anything outside of earth. �

The sun!!! � The Sun (or Sol), is the star at the centre of our solar system and is responsible for the Earth’s climate and weather. The Sun is an almost perfect sphere with a difference of just 10 km in diameter between the poles and the equator. The average radius of the Sun is 695, 508 km (109. 2 x that of the Earth) of which 20– 25% is the core.

Fun Sun Facts!!! � � � At its centre the Sun reaches temperatures of 15 million °C. The Sun is all the colours mixed together, this appears white to our eyes. The Sun is mostly composed of hydrogen (70%) and Helium (28%). The Sun is a main-sequence G 2 V star (or Yellow Dwarf). The Sun is 4. 6 billion years old. The Sun is 109 times wider than the Earth and 330, 000 times as massive.

How big is the sun? � The Sun is large enough that approximately 1. 3 million Earths could fit inside (if squashed in) or if the Earths retained their spherical shape then 960, 000 would fit. But can you visualise that number of Earths? � The sun’s mass is 1, 989, 100, 000, 000 billion Kg.

How was the sun formed? ? ? in a wide expanse of space, gravity drew dust and gas together to create the young solar system. The sun formed first from the vast material, with the planets close behind. But how did a sea of swirling particles become the brightest star in our sky? � Although it may look empty, space is filled with gas and dust. Most of the material was hydrogen and helium, but some of it was made up of leftover remnants from the violent deaths of stars. Waves of energy traveling through space pressed clouds of such particles closer together, and gravity causes them to collapse in on themselves. As the material drew together, gravity caused it to spin. The spin caused the cloud to flatten into a disk like a pancake. In the center, the material clumped together to form a protostar that would eventually become the sun. � The young protostar was a ball of hydrogen and helium not yet powered by fusion. Over the course of about 50 million years, the temperature and pressure of the material inside increased, jumpstarting the fusion of hydrogen that drives the sun today. �

Surface features of the sun!!! Solar Flares There are other types of interruptions of the Sun's magnetic energy. If a loop of the Sun's magnetic field snaps and breaks, it creates solar flares, which are violent explosions that release huge amounts of energy (Figure below). Surface Features The Sun’s surface features are quite visible, but only with special equipment. For example, sunspots are only visible with special light-filtering lenses. Sunspots The most noticeable surface features of the Sun are cooler, darker areas known as sunspots (Figure below). Sunspots are located where loops of the Sun’s magnetic field break through the surface and disrupt the smooth transfer of heat from lower layers of the Sun, making them cooler, darker, and marked by intense magnetic activity. Sunspots usually occur in pairs. When a loop of the Sun’s magnetic field breaks through the surface, a sunspot is created where the loop comes out and where it goes back in again. Sunspots usually occur in 11 -year cycles, increasing from a minimum number to a maximum number and then gradually decreasing to a minimum number again.

Check this video out. � http: //www. ck 12. org/earth- science/Surface-Features-of-the. Sun/lesson/Surface-Features-of-the-Sun -HS-ES/